Such an incredible book. Science fiction isn’t my strong suit but I had an incredible time reading this one. This books navigates topics on originality, technology and its ethics, trauma and artistic competition. All I can think about is that phrase that’s so popular now “i’ve never had an original thought”

This was one of my most anticipated reads of 2025 and absolutely did NOT disappoint! The premise is wild and the story had me hooked right away,

In a speculative future of the art world, technology is king. Huang has envisioned the future of art and technology, and the intersection between them. With it, she has effectively examined the class disparities exacerbated by technology and access to information. Huang has also showcased the intricacies, and pitfalls, of female friendships plagued by jealousy.

Enka and Mathilde's love powers this novel, and leads its disintegration. Huang has built incredibly deep characters that infect each other's minds and bodies. I cannot find a single flaw in the plot or writing. I don't even usually like sci-fi, but 'Immaculate Conception' has stuck with me in the days since I finished it. I have been thoroughly affected.

5⭐️ Ling Ling Huang creates a world that feels delicate and realistic, but is totally batshit crazy and chaotic. In Immaculate Conception we are thrust into the cut throat and gritty art world. With an unreliable, morally grey FMC and a mind bending experience, this becomes an immersive experience with unexpected turns.
I absolutely loved it and look forward to more of Huang’s work.
Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the Arc:

4.5 rounded up. I was SO pleasantly surprised by this novel. It started off pretty slow for me, but once I hit the 1/3 mark I was completely hooked. Huang seamlessly incorporates advanced sci-fi and artistic concepts in a way that is easily digestible. She was able to to create a stunning commentary on technology/AI, obsession, and originality and ownership of art in the 'modern' world. Very Black Mirror-esque.
Thank you NetGalley and Penguin Group Dutton for the eARC!

Ling Ling Huang’s IMMACULATE CONCEPTION plays out like a BLACK MIRROR episode set in the art world, and I ate it the hell up. This book is an unflinching and unsettling look at AI, jealousy, and the existential trials and tribulations an artist goes through in their creative process. Huang demands us to confront our egos and acknowledge the fact that every artist is in danger of extinction. Furthermore, she asks us to question the following:

How much of our creations are actually solely ours and original?
Why do humans continue to make art, despite the idea that it’s already been done before?
Can art be as good without the artist's trauma?
What do we lose when we get what we want?

Through the eyes of Mathilde and Enka, we fall down the slippery slope of a codependent friendship, as they construct themselves in relation to one another. Ya know, super healthy. From the beginning, Enka has envied Mathilde since she creates one of a kind pieces, while she only constructs less than inspired ones. The first quarter of the book establishes their art school friendship, and then it quickly takes a dark spin into the terrifying world of AI in art, technology, and things that just shouldn’t be manipulated.

In a time where AI is taking over, and many professions are being threatened by its very existence, this book is an eerie omen of what could be our future. I was thoroughly enthralled by Huang’s characters, themes and social critiques, and I could easily see this make a banger A24 movie. Special thanks to NetGalley and Penguin Group Dutton for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Another wonderful, though provoking book by Huang. The prose here is absolutely stunning and exactly what I have come to expect from her. I think the way Immaculate Conception tackles concerns about AI and technology is done in a way that is much more captivating and enjoyable than what I have found in other books thus far. I'm very, very, very excited to get my hands on this on release day and do think that readers who loved Huang's previous novel, "Natural Beauty", will not be disappointed.

While the novel excels in its emotional depth and thematic exploration, there are moments where the pacing feels uneven. But the quieter moments are just as important as the more dramatic ones, providing necessary context for understanding the character's decisions and growth. I really enjoyed this one and felt it was like nothing else i've ever read before. I can't wait to get my hard copy of this one in my hands.

Immaculate Conception is haunting as it explores some of our most basic human emotions—jealousy, obsession, and empathy. It does so against a backdrop of technological advancement and societal fracture, which feels eerily real given present circumstances. It forces you to confront the question: What happens when power, technology, and the human condition collide?

Reading this novel brought me back to my undergrad years, when I was fully consumed by the art world—spending hours buried in niche articles and writing papers on the most obscure artists I could find. I became particularly entranced by Hieronymus Bosch, whose chaotic, addictive works mirrored the layered, unsettling world Huang constructs here—a world teeming with beauty, madness, and moral decay.

Huang masterfully dissects the complexities of jealousy and competition, especially in a society defined by the stark divide between the haves and the have-nots. The novel taps into our collective anxieties about the future: the erosion of empathy, the impulse to erase trauma, and the dangerous allure of technological “solutions” to deeply human problems. It also confronts the corrupting nature of power—how easily those who claim to know what’s best for humanity can lose their own humanity in the process.

HOWEVER!!! At its core, this is a story about friendship—about connection, boundaries, and the thin line between admiration and obsession. It reminded me of the unsettling introspection of My Year of Rest and Relaxation and the sharp commentary on envy and ambition found in Yellowface.

What does it mean to be jealous? To be consumed by longing and comparison? And can technology ever replace the raw, messy emotions that make us human? Huang offers no easy answers, but her novel lingers with you—an echo of chaos, power, and feeling.

Thank you NetGalley and Penguin Group Dutton for providing me with an arc!

Ling Ling Huang’s mind will never fail to amaze me. Both of her books feel like Black Mirror episodes & I will continue to read anything she publishes. I loved all the technology aspects, the obsessive relationship between Mathilde & Enka and all the twists & turns towards the end of the book. Although, at times this book felt incredibly slow and a little bit redundant towards the middle of the book. I didn’t really connect with either of the characters as they fell a little flat for me. With that all being said, I’m really glad to have read this and cannot wait for Ling Ling Huang’s future novels!!

An absolutely incredible sophomore novel for Ling Ling Huang! I knew vaguely what kind of horror I was getting myself into, but this novel consistently shocked me.
Two women attend an art school, and a natural rivalry between them forms. Post grad, their lives become more and more intertwined with the advancement of technology.
Loved the introspective look into female friendships, but also female competition with the underlying terror of artificial intelligence!

Actually, this was an insane read and I don't even know where to start.

I agree with other reviewers that this was basically like an episode of black mirror. Oh my GOD.

This is the story of two friends, Enka and Mathilde, who meet as promising and talented students at a prestigious art university. Upon their years at school, they are taken down two different paths, their chosen mediums of art driving them apart in the beginning of their careers but is essentially what brings them back together. What results is an absolute chaotic and unpredictable sequence of events that had my jaw literally on the floor. Neither of these two - or any of the characters for that matter - are likeable, but their flaws are truly what made this story all the more captivating.

I don't want to go into more of the events that occur because you should go into this completely blind, like I did. At no point did I have any idea where this story was going. The twists and turns turned me completely upside down. This book also went to incredibly dark places as well, and was at times, very disturbing, borderline horrifying, especially with how close to reality this is.

The writing was exceptional. Miss Huang was able to capture the potent art world with its brutal nuances perfectly, while also explaining how it intertwines with the complicated tech world in a digestible manner. This book explored the ethics behind technology, its effects on art and humanity, and the terrifying places ones ego will take technological advancement to. Each of the characters' own stories offered sobering yet opposing perspectives on bodily autonomy and morality. There was no room to take a breath in this book. This is one of those stories that grips you and doesn't let go until the very end.

If you are having an existential crisis, stay clear from this book as you will sit in silence staring at the wall for at least twenty minutes simply processing what you've just read (i am obviously speaking from experience lol). This was incredible. Thought-provoking. Mind numbing. Horrifying. Perfect.

This was a phenomenal work of literary fiction. It felt like an episode of Black Mirror, but the narrative made it intimate and the subject matter made it particularly timely and intellectual. It was definitely literary fiction, but also incorporated other genres such as mystery and horror. There was a growing sense of his throughout the story, both internally externally.

It covered a lot of heavier topics well such as female friendships, the impact of artificial intelligence on art and particularly the originality and ownership of art in this modern world, and empathy and self-confidence.

“I breathe in, you breathe out.” This quote encompasses the relationship between Enka and Mathilde. The beginning is slow, but I ended up appreciating the time it took to show us their relationship at different stages. When they meet in art school, there is a budding connection that arises out of their shared love of art and Enka’a reverence of Mathilde’s artistic genius. But by the way of technological advancements the connection turns more sinister, wherein Enka is actually inhabiting Mathilde. The procedure is sold as humanity trying to connect to each other, though that it comes from the same billionaire family that made the barriers, cutting off people from each other that weren’t on the same social class shows how quickly technology can be exploited.

This novel is just so masterfully crafted. It had layers! The conversations overlap—Enka feeling lacking as an artist and envious of Mathilde; the barriers making her ‘fringe,’ forever an outsider even when she manages to be on the inside thanks to her billionaire husband; the rise of a generative AI archive that renders Enka and her classmates feeling useless as artists as they see a computer ‘creating’ art in an instant when in turn they had been working on the same things for months. So this novel boils down to artistic ingenuity and ownership—what Enka craves the most and what she takes from Mathilde.

The relationship between Enka and Mathilde is toxic based on codependency, but there is a deep love there. I really felt for these characters, even when Enka had my anxiety spiking as I foresaw she would not be making a good decision any time soon. I felt sad as Enka did, at the what-ifs. It left me with a lot to think about; I will be picking up a finished copy to reread come May!

This novel had an interesting concept, but I thought the execution was sloppy. I didn’t like the writing style and couldn’t firmly root myself in the world. I was also confused about time period, as 9/11 had taken place, but there was also a lot of speculative sci-fi stuff. Overall, it just felt tedious and the characters didn’t feel fully developed.

I just finished Immaculate Conception by Ling Ling Huang and wowowow - this book is an exhilarating, terrifying examination of art and agency and trauma and what is real and who is real and it absolutely consumed me. It's a deeply intense narrative about two artists, Enka and Mathilde, whose friendship spirals into an extraordinary meditation on creativity, obsession, and the boundaries between people. Huang is doing something so original and provocative that I'm not sure any other contemporary writer is exploring these territories with such depth and insight. This is the kind of novel that will set your brain on fire. If you loved Natural Beauty and were eagerly anticipating Huang's next move, this novel will exceed every expectation.

First, Huang's writing is beautiful as always. I love her writing style and how she immerses the reader in the story. However, I struggled a little with this one. The pacing felt extremely fragmented and slow. The world this story is set in is extremely complicated world, and little was explained. I would have liked more context on both the society and the tech. I really enjoyed the themes here, but also felt that there were so many it was hard to focus on all of them. Overall, this was a good read but I felt I was missing a lot of context.

Thank you to Dutton and NetGalley for the ARC.

i don’t even know where to begin, this may one of the best books i read this year.

this novel demonstrates the fine line where friendship and envy often blurs, ebbs, flows, and transforms. as the reader, we’re caught in the delicate suspension between love and hate that so often defines friendships between creatives and artists. companionship can either serve as the mirror you so desperately need or a glass pane portraying the success you’re afraid will forever remain out of reach.

huang expertly explores the terrifying intersection between art, technology, intellectual property, and the lack of humanity and morality that we may find ourselves in. while boundaries may be the distance between where two people can love both themselves and the other, what happens once those boundaries are broken?

Thank you to Net Galley and the publisher for an ARC of this book! It had so many twists and turns in it I was not expecting. Immaculate Conception is a multi-layered sci-fi novel that packs in every emotion, including grief, jealousy, and love. I don’t want to give too much away regarding the plot, but if you enjoy science fiction I would recommend picking it up when it releases!

Art or Artificial? In a world where technology can manufacture connection and even inhabit another’s mind, what does it mean to create something authentic?

Immaculate Conception delves into the complexities of friendship, art, and technology in ways that feel eerily real and unsettlingly plausible. They say, keep your friends close and your enemies closer—but what happens when your friend is also your competitor? When admiration and obsession blur, when creativity and identity become commodities, where do we draw the line? Friendship isn’t always about support—sometimes, it’s a quiet battlefield where success, happiness, and even struggles become points to be measured, compared, and outdone.

Set in the high-stakes world of contemporary art, the novel pulls back the curtain on the relentless struggle for originality—the endless brainstorming, the desperation to stand out. Mathilde’s brilliance is undeniable, but Huang shows that great artists aren’t just born talented; they are shaped by their wounds, their pasts bleeding into their work. Meanwhile, Enka, in her desperate bid to stay close to Mathilde, begins to blur the boundaries between inspiration and possession. And when technology enters the picture—offering the ability to inhabit another’s mind, to absorb their very essence—the ethical and personal consequences become impossible to ignore.

Would you choose to extract the mind of someone else and insert it into your own? And if you did, would you still be you?

Immaculate Conception forces us to confront our insecurities, the ways they warp our relationships, and how sometimes, our greatest enemy isn’t another person—it’s ourselves.

With the rise of AI, how do we define artistic authenticity? Will we become mere caricatures of technology? And in a world where our expressions can be replicated, altered, and commodified, how do we reclaim what makes us human?

Ling Ling Huang is a genuis for masterfully weaving all these questions into a gripping, deeply tender read.

This is hands down one of my top reads of 2025. Set to publish on May 13–mark your calendars because this is not one to sleep on.

Thank you @netgalley and @duttonbooks for the e-ARC!